To Buffet or Not to Buffet, That is the Question

[terrydtx]

10 minutes ago, RichYak said:

I don't feel that the risk of catching covid is any less in Luminae than in the Oceanview cafe. Room Service and outdoor dining would reduce the risk. Anything else is a crapshoot.

At least in Luminae you do not have passengers breathing on, sneezing on, coughing on and fondling the food before you take yours.

[C4HCG]

I thought this strain of covid is passed on through the air rather than from touch.

[RichYak]

42 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

At least in Luminae you do not have passengers breathing on, sneezing on, coughing on and fondling the food before you take yours.

They don't have to. They just need to be sitting anywhere near you, or simply walking past you, in Luminae. The point is, this variant is far too contagious to feel any safer in a suite lounge or dining room.

[PaperSniper4]

Something to also consider, IMO....

 

We sailed on the Summit earlier this month. The buffet was masked staff-serve only, and I observed very little "cheating" by passengers by grabbing tongs, etc. Only maybe 5% of passengers wearing masks while being served. We ate in the Ocean View cafe maybe 30% of our meals. We typically got our food, then headed our to the Sunset/OcearnView bar to find a place in the fresh air and provide some social distancing. BTW, food was excellent.

 

Our other meals were in the MDR, where the staff was masked. Food was excellent here, I've had better, but then some not as good. Again, maybe 5% of the passengers wore masks. As in the buffet area, we wore masks until seated at our table. However, I actually felt more vulnerable at our early seating table in the MDR. We had a "table for two" by the window, but it was more like a table for 10 since four other tables were stacked in a line from the window to the ship's interior. There were only 3-4 inches between tables, meaning we were about 2-3 feet from passengers on the other table. Was this better than the Ocean View cafe? Debatable. Neither of us had/has any symptoms of the dreaded virus!

 

 Doug

 

 

[DCPIV]

On 7/22/2022 at 2:06 PM, boxkite said:

At least on the Celebrity S class ships (not sure about M and E ships), when you go to the buffet, you can take your food and eat at a outside table.

 

Perhaps less risky than eating inside.

 

Plus when the weather is good its very nice outside.

 

For the RCCL ships we have been on, there was no option to take your buffet food and eat outside, it was inside tables only.

 

On M class ships, you can easily take your plate out to the Sunset Bar or the pool area (but the Sunset Bar has very little shade). 

 

For RC ships, you typically can take your plate out to the pool easily enough.